Water-heater.



D. WHITEFORD.

WATER HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED r1112. 13, mos.

1,060,,M. Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

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; of heaters.

DAVID WHITEFORD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WATER-HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 13, 1909.

Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

Serial No. 477,516.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID WI-II'IEFORD, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Water-Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to water heating devices and has particularreference to heatattachments for kitchen boilers and the lie.

The object of the invention is, to provide an improved heat-ing device,the heating capacity of which shall be variable to differ a ent sizes ofboilers, or flexible, so as to provide increased or diminished heatingsurfaces to be exposed to the hot gases of combustion. To this end Ihave provided a series of heating disks or compartments,

. comprising first an upper and a lower disk or compartment, which Iterm the primary battery of heaters, and one or more interchangeableintermediate disks or compartments, which I term the secondary batterygether form a complete water heating device sufficient for a boiler ofsmall size, or to utilize a small burner flame.

Where boilers of larger size are to be equipped, one or more additionaldisks or compartments to the required number are added and provision ismade for making these modifications in a manner available to those whoare not skilled in the art. These secondary members or heaters, orheating compartments, are identical and interchangeable.

The foregoing construction and arrangement contemplates a continuouscirculation of the water in thin sheets throughout the said series ofheating spaces or compartments. This circulation is facilitated byadmit-ting the cold water to the lowest disk or compartment first,circulating it through said disk, thence through the next higher disk,and so on until the last disk is reachedwhich last disk is caused todischarge into the tank or boiler, the heated water obviously tending tomove upward, and thus creating the desired circulation.

A further improvement contemplated by my invention is, to provide, aheating attachment which shall receive the cold water from the boilerand send said water back heated through a single pipe opening in theboiler, thereby facilitating the at- Said upper and lower disks to-'tachment, or providing a simple means of equipping an existing boilerwith my improved device.

The flexibility of the arrangement further contemplates adaptation tovarious other situations, such as connecting the heating disks with thewater back of an ordinary stove equipped with such a water back; andalso for modifying arrangement as to the method of returning the heatedwater into the boiler in certain cases.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of aheating device embodying my invention, same being attached to aboilerthe latter broken away between its top and bottom. Fig. 2 is asection taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectiontaken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring in detail to the several views, 2 represents the top and 3-thebottom of an ordinary kitchen water boiler, in the bottom of which is anopening 4, into which is inserted a pipe 5, which forms a part of myimprovement.

The heater proper consists of a series of hollow disks, an upper one 6and a lower one 7 constituting the primary disks or battery, whileintermediate disks Sand 9 constitute the secondary disks or battery.From the pipe 5 the cold water from the boiler is let into the lowermostdisk 7 through a conduit 10, which is formed by a series of oppositelydisposed hollow hubs 11 on the intermediate disks, and hub 12 on theupper disk, and a pair of hubs 13 on the lowest disk 7. A similararrangement of upwardly and downwardly identically projecting pairs ofhubs 1 1, 15, 16 and 17 on one side of the central series of hubs, andhubs 18, 19, 20 and 21 on the opposite side of said central series ofhubs, which is provided to form communicating passages from one disk toanother. Watertight oints are formed between the adjoining ends of thesehubs, by means of fiber washers 22. The lower end of the conduit 10 alsoleads into a drain pipe 23, connected with the lowest hub 13 andprovided with a drain cock 24. All of the disks are then clampedtogether and the fiber joints made water-tight by means of a series ofrods 25, having heads at one end and nuts threaded on their oppositeends. These rods, as

shown, pass through the entire series of disks, their heads and nutsengaging, respectively, the top and bottom disks.

As stated in the foregoing, the cold water is first taken into thelowest disk as soon as it circulates upwardly through this series and isdischarged through the disk 6 through a nipple 26 having its lower endthreaded into the upper nipple 18 of the disk 6. The

upper end of the nipple 26 is threaded into a -T 27 connected with ashort pipe 28 having threaded engagement with a hub 29 on the pipe 5.The pipe Q8 projects into the interior of the pipe 5 and is connectedthrough a quarter bend fitting 30 with lower end of the hot waterdischarge pipe 31 which extends within the boiler to a point near itstop 2.

Each of the disks has an interior space in which the water issuccessively heated, the lower disk 7 having a water space 32, the nextdisk 9 having a water space 33, the next disk 8 having a water space 34,and the top disk 6 having a water space 35. The water is caused to flowin at one side of each disk, and out through the hubs at its oppositeside, this flow beginning at a lateral opening 36 in the lower end ofthe passage 10, which opening directs the initial flow to the right on(Fig. l), whence it flows back through the passage formed by the upperhub 17 and lower hub 16; thence to the right in the water space 33;thence upward through the passage formed by the upper hub 20 and lowerhub 19 into the passage 34; thence through the upper hub 15 and lowerhub 14 into the water space 35; thence into the pipes 26, T fitting 27,pipe 28, quarter bend 30, and pipe 31, into the upper end of the spacewithin the boiler. From the boiler the water is drawn off in anysuitable manner.

Occasionally the boilers are provided with inlets for the hot water, andto provide for such a contingence I have equipped the T 27 with a plug37 in its right-hand branch (Fig. 1), which plug may be removed and apipe 38 (indicated by dotted lines) substituted.

I have made another provision or augmentation by providing theintermediate disks 8 and 9 with normally plugged'lateral outlets closedby plugs 39 and 40 respectively. In Fig. 1, as shown by dotted lines, apipe 41 connected with the opening closed by the plug 39, this pipe 41leading to a stove water back, not shown. The purpose of this provisionis to make use of the water heating arrangement of an ordinary stovethus equipped, during such season or seasons as such stoves are usuallyemployed, namely, during the cold weather, for the sake of the economyof letting the cook stove serve as a room heater in addition to itsusual capacity. The normal heater is represented by dot-ted lines as theordinary gas burner 42. The heat from the latter first strikes the lowersurface of disk 7; thence the gases of combustion pass through theseries of perforations 43 between the disks 7 and 9. From the latterspace the heat ascends through per forations 44 to the space betweendisks 9 and 8. From the latter space the heat continues its ascentthrough the perforations 45 into the space between disks 8 and 6, andwhatever of surplus heat then remains is impinged against the bottom ofthe boiler after escaping at the outer' edges of the disks 6 and 8.

The hub openings described in the fore- 3 going and not referred to asaffording passages for the circulating water, are normally closed byplugs 46.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the device as awhole may be at- 35 tached without any further alteration in an existingboiler than that involved in making a single perforation for the pipe 5;that the arrangement is adaptable to the several methods of heating nowin vogue; that it is adaptable to the well known form of boilers withoutany alteration whatever by connecting the pipe 5 in any suitable mannerwith an already existing opening in the bottom of the boiler, and analready existing opening in the side or the top of the boiler, to whichthe pipe 38 may lead; and that the heating capacity of the burner may betaken care of, whatever the volume of heat may be, for the purpose ofequipping the dift'erent sizes of boilers, by increasing or diminishingthe number of secondary disks 8 and 9, as each particular situation maydemand.

The openings 43, 44 and 45 are staggered with relation to each other, asshown in Fig. 1, to better distribute the hot gases of combustion overthe heater surfaces.

I claim as my invention 1. In a heating device, the combination with atank of a' plurality of disks having shallow water spaces therewithin,said disks being individual and separable members, means for circulatingwater in alternately opposite directions through said disks, and meansfor passing gases of combustion thrlgugh the lower disk or disks to theupper dis 2. In a heating device, the combination with a tank, of anupper and a lower primary disk having water spaces therewithin,secondary disks which are separable and intel-changeable and adapted tobe interposed between said primary disks for the purpose of varying theheating capacity of said heating device, means common toall of saiddisks for securing them together as a unit, means for circulating waterfrom and back into said boiler in opposite directions throu h saiddisks, and means for heating said evice, 30

3. In a heating device, the combination with a tank, of a series ofseparable disks having water spaces therewithin, hollow hubs on saiddisks which serve to space said disks apart and to providewater-passages from disk to disk, a single inlet passage from said tankinto the lowest of said disks, means for draining said passage and tank,means for circulating water in alternately opposite directions throughsaid disks, means for returning the water to said tank through saidsingle inlet opening, and means for heating said device.

4. In a heating device, the combination with a tank, of a heatercomprising builtup and separable sections or disks constructed andarranged so that they may be increased or diminished in number and stillleave a complete heater, spacer-hubs on said disks, and subserving asmeans for circulating water in alternately opposite directions throughsaid sections, means common to all of the disks for securing themtogether as a whole, and means for heating same.

5. In a heating device, the combination with a tank, of a series ofwater space disks which may be assembled invariable numbers to form acomplete heater, a single pipe connection between said heater and saidtank, means for drawing water from said tank through said connectioninto said heater and for returning the water from the heater through thesame connection, means for varying the direction of said return, andmeans for heating said heater.

6. In a heating device, the combination with a tank, of a series ofwater space disks which are adapted for assemblage in variable numbersto form a complete water heater, means for admitting water from saidtank into said heater, Variable means for returning the water from saidheater to said tank, and variable means for heating the water passedthrough said heater.

7. In a heating device, the combination with a tank, of a series ofdisks having water spaces therein, means for flowing water into and fromsaid disks or spaces, through a central opening in the bottom of thetank, and means for passing hot gases of combustion through the disksarranged below the uppermost disk.

8. In a heating device, the combination with a tank, of a series ofwater spaces, hubs for spacing apart said water spaces and forcirculating water from and back.

into said tank, a single pipe-opening in said tank, through which thewater is led into as well as from said spaces, and means for heating thewater during such fiowage.

,9. In a heating device, the combination with a tank, of a battery ofheater disks arranged one above another, each said disks being anindividual member separable from the other disks, means common to allsaid disks for supporting them relatively to each other as a unit, meansfor circulating water through said disks, and means for heating saiddisks.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

DAVID WHITEFORD. Witnesses:

M. C. ALLEN,

J. WV. BECKSTROM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, I). G.

